"1"^^ . "4"^^ . . . . "1"^^ . "10"^^ . "The Las Vegas strip has so many beautiful hotels to choose from! My friend and I were trying to decide between the Bellagio, Mirage and Venetian. We chose the Mirage because the prices for the Bellagio that weekend were exceptionally high and I had stayed at the Venetian before and wanted to try something new.\n\nI was very happy with many aspects of the hotel. It was more beautiful than I remembered. I love how the hotel looks from the outside. The volcano, water and Beatles decorations are all very visually appealing. The volcano eruptions at night are a lot of fun to watch. The lobby and Atrium are also really cool to walk around. The check in desk has a huge tropical fish tank all along the walls.\n\nBeatles LOVE is performed right inside the hotel. It is an absolutely phenomenal show and I recommend it to anybody who enjoys their music. My friend and I ended up doing the dinner & show package at the Mirage, which got us a $55 meal at Tom Colicchio's Heritage Steakhouse and excellent seats at the show. It was a great deal.\n\nThe hotel has dining options of all varieties. Heritage Steakhouse is a delicious upscale restaurant. They also have a Carnegie deli, Starbucks and a diner called The Pantry, for those looking for a quicker, less expensive meal. They also have a BLT Burger, Cravings Buffet, a Japanese restaurant and a Brazilian steakhouse. They also have a nightclub called 1 OAK that seemed very nice. John Legend was hosting a party there during our stay.\n\nThe pool is gorgeous. The setup is nice. There are lots of comfortable chairs for suntanning that are strategically placed so that they can accommodate large crowds, without anybody getting in each other's way. There is also a beach club called Bare attached to the pool. \n\nThe rooms were nice and clean. They overlooked the pool and the strip. The beds were comfortable. The customer service was excellent. All of our requests were responded to promptly.\n\nAlthough I loved most things about my experience at the Mirage, there were a few things that I found to be frustrating:\n\n1. I specifically requested an early check in. They had told me they could accommodate it. I arrived at 10:00 a.m. They told me the room should be ready within 2 hours. The room was not ready until 2:00 p.m.! Luckily, Vegas is a fun place to walk around aimlessly.\n2. As with all Vegas hotels, patrons are allowed to smoke. The Mirage Casino seemed to be extra clouded with smoke, compared to the other hotel casinos. I saw a theory online that this is because the ceilings are low and the smoke tends to gather more densely. As a non-smoker, I found this to be extremely unpleasant.\n3. The Dolphin Exhibit/Secret Garden is very sad to walk through. The accommodations for the animals are outdated and dingy. It is in desperate need of renovation.\n\nOther than those three points, my stay was wonderful. I would certainly stay at the Mirage again. The value is excellent!"^^ . "2015-05-19T00:00:00"^^ .